Press Release from GKIDS
New York, NY – GKIDS is bringing a 20-year retrospective of films from Japan’s renowned Studio Ghibli to Los Angeles. Presented by American Cinematheque, the films will play at the Egyptian and Aero Theatres in Los Angeles from Thursday, January 26 to Sunday, February 12.
Fourteen Studio Ghibli feature films produced between 1984 and 2008 will be presented, including Hayao Miyazaki’s Academy Award-winning Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke, My Neighbor Totoro, Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, Castle in the Sky, Howl’s Moving Castle, and Kiki’s Delivery Service. Films will be shown in either the subtitled or English dubbed versions. (See below for a complete list of titles.)
The Los Angeles run follows an enormously successful debut for the retrospective at New York’s IFC Center. The event opened at IFC on December 16, grossing $32,500 week one, $33,700 week two, and $56,700 week three. The event helped IFC set several single-day records for the complex (including biggest Monday, biggest Wednesday, and biggest Thursday) and contributed to the second busiest period since the theater opened.
GKIDS recently entered into agreement with Studio Ghibli to handle North American theatrical distribution for their library of animated features. Following the Los Angeles engagement, the retrospective will tour to major North American markets, including Chicago, Washington DC, Toronto, Boston, San Francisco, Seattle, and other cities, throughout 2012. GKIDS is also planning limited releases of select Studio Ghibli titles, many of which have never been released theatrically in the US, beginning late 2012.
Eric Beckman, GKIDS president, said, “I am both excited and deeply honored to be working with Studio Ghibli to bring this amazing slate of films to theaters across North America. I am in continual awe of the brilliance of the animation, the depth and humanity of the storytelling, and of the filmmakers’ understanding that even the youngest audiences are capable of appreciating all the subtlety and nuance that cinema has to offer. The response from audiences in New York was absolutely phenomenal and we look forward to sharing these wonderful films with Los Angeles area movie-goers.”
January 26 To February 12 At The Egyptian And Aero Theatres
Advance Tickets On Fandango
Information at 323-466-3456 or
http://www.americancinemathequecalendar.com/content/castles-in-the-sky-miyazaki-takahata-and-the-masters-of-studio-ghibli [1]
About Studio Ghibli
Studio Ghibli was founded in 1985 by animation directors Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata and is one of the most successful and well-respected animation studios in the world. Cultivating a creative force of talented directors, animators, and storytellers under the revered brilliance of Miyazaki and Takahata, Studio Ghibli’s films have been praised for their originality, dazzling animation, and epic storytelling. The films have become a beloved part of Japanese popular culture, and have garnered worldwide acclaim from audiences and critics alike. Hayao Miyazaki’s Spirited Away won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature in 2002 and in 2005 Miyazaki was named one of "the most influential people" by TIME Magazine.
About GKIDS
GKIDS is a distributor of award-winning animation for both adult and family audiences. Theatrical releases include Tomm Moore’s Oscar® nominated The Secret of Kells, Michel Ocelot’s acclaimed Azur & Asmar (with the Weinstein Company) and new 3D Tales of the Night, European Film Award Best Animated Feature winner Mia and the Migoo, and Nina Paley’s multiple-award-winning Sita Sings the Blues. GKIDS has two films vying for an Academy Award® in the Best Animated Feature category this year: A Cat in Paris directed by Jean-Loup Felicioli and Alain Gagnol, and Oscar® winner Fernando Trueba's Chico & Rita, which Is being released under their newly formed LumaFilms label. GKIDS recently announced a deal to handle North American theatrical distribution of Oscar® winner Hayao Miyazaki's famed Studio Ghibli library of films, one of the world’s most coveted animation collections with titles Spirited Away, My Neighbor Totoro, Princess Mononoke and others. GKIDS is longtime producer of the New York Int’l Children’s Film Festival, an Oscar®-qualifying event and North America’s largest festival of film for children and teens. NYICFF jury members include Susan Sarandon, Gus Van Sant, Jeffrey Wright, James Schamus, Uma Thurman, Matthew Modine, Michel Ocelot, and Christine Vachon.
About American Cinematheque
Established in 1981, the American Cinematheque is a 501 C 3 non-profit viewer-supported film exhibition and cultural organization dedicated to the celebration of the Moving Picture in all of its forms. At the Egyptian Theatre, the Cinematheque presents daily film and video programming which ranges from the classics of American and international cinema to new independent films and digital work. Exhibition of rare works, special and rare prints, etc., combined with fascinating post-screening discussions with the filmmakers who created the work, are a Cinematheque tradition that keep audiences coming back for once-in-a-lifetime cinema experiences. The American Cinematheque renovated and reopened (on Dec. 4, 1998) the historic 1922 Hollywood Egyptian Theatre. This includes a state-of-the-art 616-seat theatre housed within Sid Grauman's first grand movie palace on Hollywood Boulevard. The exotic courtyard is fully restored to its 1922 grandeur. The Egyptian was the home of the very first Hollywood movie premiere in 1922. In January 2005 the American Cinematheque expanded its programming to the 1940 Aero Theatre on Montana Avenue in Santa Monica.
Links:
[1] http://www.americancinemathequecalendar.com/content/castles-in-the-sky-miyazaki-takahata-and-the-masters-of-studio-ghibli